Plans for 9/11 museum at Ground Zero back on track after budget row, says Mayor

Construction of a museum at Ground Zero paying tribute to those lost in the September 11th terrorist attacks is to restart after a row over funding stalled the project.

New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said disagreements surrounding the National September 11 Memorial Museum have now been resolved and work on the museum - originally planned to open today; 11 years after the atrocities - would continue.

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The North and South Pools, memorial fountains at the Ground Zero site, have attracted 4.5million visitors since they were opened on September 12, 2011

The dispute has centered around a £187.3million fee requested by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who own the Ground Zero site, for additional design and construction beyond that specified in the original plans.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, (pictured here in 2011), has said construction on the National September 11 Memorial Museum will now restart

The 9/11 Memorial and Museum Foundation had ceased construction over the wrangle.

However, Bloomberg said a 'memorandum of understanding' had now been issued. 'My goal during this period has been to get construction on the museum restarted,' he said. 'This agreement ensures that it will be restarted very soon and will not stop until the museum is completed.'

The memorandum focuses on the aim to get the museum open 'in phases' allowing the public to access wings of the building as they are finished. A $20 (£12.50) admission fee is expected to be charged.

When finally completed, the museum will have 110,000 square feet of space with exhibits including personal property collected from the site in the aftermath of the attacks.

The official website for the museum, www.911memorial.org, states artifacts will include 'photographs, videotapes, voice messages, recovered property, clothing and other personal effects, workplace memorabilia, (and) incident-specific documents.'

3,000 people lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

The museum will open 'in phases' and display artifacts recovered from the World Trade Center site, where the atrocities of September 1, 2001 claimed the lives of 3,000 people.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo welcomed the decision to recommence construction at the site. 'Over the last few years, we have made extraordinary progress at Ground Zero and today's agreement is yet another milestone in our work to
finally complete the site as a place where people from around the world
can come to work, visit and remember.'

The Ground Zero site's current memorial, spectacular fountains in the north and south footprints of the World Trade Center site, attracted 4.5 million visitors in its first
year after opening on September 12, 2011.